10 Emergency Driving Situations & How To Deal With Them by Eric Jones

10 Emergency Driving Situations & How To Deal With Them

Tire Blowout
Push the gas and drive straight. Usually after the sound of a blowout, the driver attempts to slow down and get off the road. Get control by squeezing the gas pedal a few seconds. Carefully release the pedal. Stay away from the brake. Let the vehicle coast until it slows. Gently turn off the road, preferably to the side with the blown tire.

Tread Separation
A tread separation warning sign is a thumping noise that will become a slapping sound. Finally, a jackhammer pounding. It can take seconds or days. Hearing this, slow down and get the tire checked immediately. If the tread flies off, squeeze the gas pedal briefly and release. Let the car coast until it slows down. If needed, gently apply brakes to help the slowing process. Smoothly turn off the road, preferably to the side with the damaged tire.

Stuck Throttle
If the engine races after applying the brake, release. Often, we’ve absently hit the gas. If that’s not the case, shift to Neutral or switch off the ignition. Do not push in the clutch. If you accidentally shift to Reverse, don’t worry. The engine’s more likely to stall or think it’s in Neutral. Either way, there will still be plenty of braking power, offering the opportunity to slow the vehicle.

Sudden Acceleration
This is usually the result of a driver pressing on the gas, making it a non-mechanical issue as opposed to a struck throttle. In a modern car, brakes can be used to subdue an accelerating engine. Overall, the solution for derailing sudden acceleration and stuck throttle are the same, so see above.

Emergency Stop without ABS
If you don’t have the ABS, you’ll need to push the brake pedal hard, but not so much that the tires skid. Try and bring the vehicle to a point where the tires come close to not rolling. A complete stop will drop grips. You’ll have to release the brake pressure until the tires begin rolling, at which point you reapply brake pressure.

Emergency Stop with ABS
Slam the brake pedal to the floor. Stay on it until the car completely stops. It may make some seriously unwanted noises, but outside of slight brake and tire wear, the car itself will be fine.

Avoiding Accidents with ABS
ABS allows steering while applying pressure to the brake. It transfers a bit of braking power in the tires into steering power. The big danger is not remaining calm. Don’t turn the wheel too far in any direction. Steer around the potential accident. And do not try to stop and potentially create an incident with other traffic. Keep going until it’s safe to slow down and stop.

Drop Two Wheels
Carefully remove pressure from the gas. Drive parallel, holding until the car is coasting on 35 to 40 mph. Steer gently, turning the wheel a small amount. If there’s an obstacle, brake harder. Try to ease the car back onto the pavement.

Front Tire Slide
Remove your foot from the gas pedal and keep it away. Keep the steering steady. In this situation, turning the wheel is meaningless. That will only require more grip than the tires has as it slides. Wait for traction to come back.

Rear Tire Slide
Unfortunately, even the best race car driver can’t avoid a rear tire slide. All you can do is anticipate it. If you attempt to stop it, you spin out. Apply sensible counter steering, look for the rear traction’s return and then remove that counter steering at the appropriate rate. And pray.

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